"This'll be the one they remember me for!"

I'm not sure why, but whenever I think about my videos I'm always reminded of Johnny Depp's portrayal of Ed Wood, the incredibly bad filmmaker from the '50's who created such schlocky gems as "Glen or Glenda" and "Plan 9 From Outer Space".

Depp delivers the line while watching his film's premiere, as if it's an undeniable masterpiece. For some reason, I've developed the habit of invoking that line when I'm especially happy with one of my videos.

That's how I feel about this one. Out of all the videos I've done for Kerri and the Milford candidates, this one's my favorite! Watch it for special guests, and a future Democrat!



And, for all you Ed Wood fans out there, here's a little snippet from that wonderful disaster, "Plan 9 From Outer Space"!

A.G. Richard Blumenthal talks about Kerri

Two more videos from Kerri's fund raiser last week.

First, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal talks about Kerri:



Then, former state Senate Majority Leader George Jepsen in a quick endorsement:

Ned Lamont endorses Kerri Rowland

At a fund raising event this week, Ned Lamont showed his support for Kerri Rowland here in Milford.

I have to say this about Ned...after his defeat, it would have been the easiest thing in the world for him to say "the heck with it", and retire from the political arena. In fact, everyone would have totally understood if he did that.

And yet, here's a man who is committed to the political process as a way to improve our nation, and he's spending an incredible amount of time and personal effort to help us all get better government. He stands as a prime example of what a single person can do to change things.

Here he is talking about Kerri, and the video ends with Kerri discussing the reasons why she wants to help change things.

Sworn to "support and defend"

Chris Dodd delivered this important message to the Senate today regarding the FISA extension vote due shortly. And he also eloquently lists many of the administration's vulgar excesses of law and how the Senate needs to address them.

Support Chris Dodd HERE:

Ned Lamont to help raise funds for Kerri Rowland

Here's a great opportunity to support a true progressive Democrat, and stick it to Sen. Joe Lieberman at the same time!

You know Joe Lieberman...he's the guy who claims to be an "Independent Democrat" (whatever that's supposed to be) and who came to town just over a week ago to support the heavily entrenched Republican incumbent in the race and to squawk about his supposed "liberation" from the Democratic Party!

A fundraiser for Kerri Rowland for Mayor
at the Milford home of Patrick Winters

with Special Guest Ned Lamont
October 24, 2007
6 – 8 pm
Refreshments will be served.

21 Point Beach Drive
Milford, CT 06460
RSVP to rsvp@milforddemocrats.com
or call 203-878-8577

Directions to this showcase home on Long Island Sound will be provided. Or if you're a computer wiz like I think you are, you can Mapquest it and print out your very own fancy-schmancy map!

Suggested contribution:
• Level A: Gold Star donor $ 250
• Level B: Silver Star donor $ 150
• Level C: Blue Star donor $ 75
Maximum Donation $1000 per person

Please make checks payable to:
Kerri Rowland for Mayor
c/o Gerald C. Pia, Jr. Treasurer,
465 Pond Point Ave., Milford, CT 06460

To contribute using a Credit Card, please go to:
http://www.kerrirowland.com/contribute.html

Contributions are not deductible for Federal Income Tax purposes

And here's the latest Kerri ad:

Senator Dodd live video on FISA hold

Just moments ago I watched this awesome interactive "chat" with viewers from Fire Dog Lake, and also discussed on DailyKos.


The readers of FDL submitted questions, and the senator answered them in this real-time discussion.

Kudos to Senator Dodd, not only for his heroic stance on restoring the Constitution, but also for his willingness to listen to and respond to the voters. And kudos to the Dodd campaign's technical team, including MLN's own Matt Browner-Hamlin.
Of course, thanks are due to Jane Hamsher and the awesome team at FDL!

Support Senator Dodd HERE!

Dodd to filibuster FISA telecom "immunity"

Sen. Chris Dodd made this video the other day to discuss his opposition to the FISA bill, and yesterday said he would also filibuster it if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid decides to break tradition and refuse to uphold the "hold" on the bill that Dodd proposed. This would be a highly unusual move by Reid, and might indicate something seriously amiss.

Let Senator Dodd know how much you appreciate his defense of the Constitution by donating something (no matter how small) RIGHT HERE.

The very fact that Reid hasn't immediately and loudly jumped on board with Sen. Dodd is mystifying to me. It makes me wonder if Reid is being "leaned on" by the telecom giants, who may in fact have digital evidence of some horrific images that Mr. Reid may have downloaded to his home computer late one night in a desperate moment of perverted weakness.

I dunno about that, but nothing else seems to adequately explain his reticence here.

Unless of course he's a closet Republican who's successfully managed to fool the Democrats for years!

Lieberman slaps Jim Amann (and Milford) in the face

On Sunday, Senator Joe Lieberman took time out of his busy schedule of undermining the Constitution and helping the President plot the invasion of sovereign nations to come to our little city and stump for one of his political cronies.

And in the process, he slapped another one aside!

From Freda Moon's article in the New Haven Advocate:

Sen. Joe Lieberman, one of the most powerful leaders in all the land, came home this week to endorse a small-time politician of long-standing: Milford Mayor Jim Richetelli, a Republican in a tight race against a young and popular Democrat.

It was a slap in the face of state House Speaker James Amann—a Milford native and arguably the most powerful Democrat in Connecticut—who endorsed Kerri Rowland, the Democratic mayoral candidate, just days before. Amann went out on a limb for Lieberman last year, breaking with his party to stand by Lieberman (who ran and won as an independent) after he lost the Democratic primary to Ned Lamont. Amann's decision cost him the support of progressive Democrats and briefly made him blogger enemy number one.

On Sunday, Lieberman repaid Amann for sticking his neck out by headlining a fund-raiser for the candidate Amann's campaigning against.

I guess the word "loyalty" means something to Senator Joe ONLY if he's on the receiving end of it. This is how your good friend paid you back for your support, Mr. Speaker.

Don't feel too bad, Jimmy...we've ALL been terribly disappointed by the senator many times in the last six years, so it was inevitable that he'd eventually do something to embarrass you, too.

Asked whether he feels he's embarrassed his buddy Amann, Lieberman said, "Jimmy and I, we have a very deep friendship and we have, in a very mutually respectful way, agreed to disagree about this one." Amann didn't return calls for comment.

[...]

This sort of political pay-back is hardly surprising. But why is Lieberman more interested in repaying a favor to a small-town Republican mayor than a major, state-wide political player?

Ed Anderson, a former Lamont supporter and blogger who was amongst the anti-Lieberman protesters outside Richitelli's fund-raiser, believes he knows. "He's spite-driven," Anderson said of Lieberman. "He's sticking it to the state's rank-and-file Democrats for failing to support him."

Kerri Rowland wouldn't offer any theories of her own. "It's not worth my comment," she said. What she would say is that the same day Lieberman's endorsement of Richitelli hit the local newspapers, her website received a flood of donations and her Saturday fund-raiser brought in close to $10,000. "Richitelli's call on Lieberman is a sign that he's worried," she says.

For any remaining Democrats out there who stubbornly cling to the idea that Lieberman is still a Democrat "at heart", the following paragraph should open your eyes for you:

Lieberman's not shy about having abandoned the Connecticut Democratic base. "In my office on August 8, which was the day the primary was last year, they brought a cake in to me, and it said 'Liberation Day,'" recounted Lieberman onstage at the fund-raiser. "In a way what happened last year liberated me to do what was in my heart to do."

Judging from the senator's actions since the war began, we have much to fear from what is in Joe Lieberman's heart.

(...and you can slap Lieberman right back by supporting Kerri Rowland HERE!)

Dodd puts "hold" on FISA

In his courageous move today to blog the FISA "amnesty" bill, Senator Dodd may have revealed a dirty little secret about the Senate.

It seems that every single senator has an extraordinary amount of power in the way bills are allowed to proceed! Check this out:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Dodd Ends Spying, No Senator Will Do Same for War"
by David Swanson, Op-Ed News.Com:

Senator Chris Dodd on Thursday single-handedly blocked a bill to legalize unconstitutional spying and immunize criminals who have engaged in it. But by doing so, Dodd may have made the biggest blunder Washington has seen in many months. He advertised the fact that a single senator with nerve has the power to block a bill, including – of course – every bill to further fund the occupation of Iraq. Now, how will Dodd explain his past and future failure to use the same power to end the war that he has used to end warrantless spying? How will other senators, including Harry Reid, explain their own failure? How will Nancy Pelosi manage to keep asserting in every conversation that only 67 senators can end a war?

Dodd released the following statement:

It's been a busy day, but I wanted take a moment and let you know that I have decided to place a "hold" on legislation in the Senate that includes amnesty for telecommunications companies that enabled the President's assault on the Constitution by providing personal information on their customers without judicial authorization.

I said that I would do everything I could to stop this bill from passing, and I have.
It's about delivering results -- and as I've said before, the FIRST thing I will do after being sworn into office is restore the Constitution.

But we shouldn't have to wait until then to prevent the further erosion of our country's most treasured document. That's why I am stopping this bill today.

But blocking a bill, not passing one, is exactly what's needed to get our troops and mercenaries home from Iraq. It is a lie that Congress must pass a bill to end the occupation of Iraq. The occupation can be ended with an announcement by Congressional leaders that there will be no more funding. Any proposal to fund it can be blocked by 41 senators filibustering or by a single senator putting a hold on the bill. Bush has plenty of money for withdrawal and could be given more for that exclusive purpose. When your television tells you the Democrats need 60 or 67 senators to end the occupation, your television is lying to you.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could if they wanted announce today that the House and Senate will no longer bring to a vote any bills to fund anything other than withdrawal. They have many colleagues already on board with that position, not to mention two thirds of the country. It would take 218 signatures on a discharge petition to force a bill to the floor of the House without Pelosi's approval. It is unlikely enough Democrats would oppose their party to fund Bush's war in that way. In the Senate, Reid alone could refuse to bring a bill to the floor, or another senator could put an open or secret hold on a bill. And, while not all bills can be filibustered (appropriations bills can be, budget reconciliation bills cannot), you can hardly claim you need 60 votes to get past a filibuster without admitting that with only 41 you could launch your own filibuster and that with 51 you could defeat any bill. Once you understand the goal as blocking bills rather than passing them, the number of allies you need shrinks dramatically.

In fact, Senator Dodd has just very publicly advertised his ability to take action on Iraq in January, thereby earning the right to be president. This would be a major shift from his current proposal that we elect him president first, after which he'll see about ending the war.

Thank Dodd and urge others to join him in blocking the FISA bill here:
http://www.democrats.com/hold-the-wiretap-bill
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

4th Congressional District candidate Jim Himes (www.himesforcongress.com) issued the following statement today:

"I applaud Sen. Dodd for his bold leadership today in announcing that he will place a hold on Senate FISA legislation that gives retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies who may have broken the law in spying on American citizens without warrants.

Whether these companies broke the law by going along with President Bush's warrantless wiretap program is a matter for the courts to decide, not for Congress, and certainly not for President Bush. It is long past time that Congress stop rubber-stamping Administration policies which are so contemptuous both of the Constitution and of our nation's longstanding commitment to the rule of law.

We need more leaders in Congress who will stand up for a competent national security policy and against unchecked executive power to spy on American citizens. I am very proud to be Sen. Dodd's constituent today."

Chris Shays - new Iraqi Minister of Information

Kudos to MikeCT for this awesome video he posted on My Left Nutmeg.

The similarities between these two "purveyors of lies" are irrefutable.

And sickening.

However, there IS a cure to Chris Shays' madness. It's called Shays Loses In 2008.

Let's all make it so.

Bush-man and Lieberman together again

Bush-man greets his favorite turncoat senator Joe Lieberman at a fundraiser for a Republican (of course!)

The sign reads "Ann Coulter perfected Joe Lieberman and Richetelli". Click on the image to enlarge it and enjoy all the subtle nuances which lie therein.

You can almost feel Joe's cringe from this photo (from the Connecticut Post)

Here's my photo from last year's Newtown Labor Day Parade (the one Joe wasn't invited to, but he crashed the party anyway!)

(...and thanks are due to Tessa for scanning and emailing it to me!)
(...and Big Dave from Queens is an evil genius!)

Keeping busy with the local Democrats

Last night was another evening of shooting candidate videos for our local Democrats. Including a video for candidate for First Selectman of Orange, Paul Tarbox (pictured above).

Orange has some serious issues on the table, and Paul asks the questions in his video about an open land purchase that cost town taxpayers nearly $4,000,000. Paul's a great guy, and I'm sure he'll be a valued asset to the Town of Orange when he takes office. Paul's video will be ready soon.

Aspiring filmmaker Sarah Ferrante, whose father Victor Ferrante is running for Planning & Zoning in the 5th District, was a great help last night running the Teleprompter and assisting with production.

We also shot videos of several Board of Education candidates here in Milford that will go up on the Milford Democrats website, and early next week I'll work on a new video for Kerri Rowland.

I've been really busy lately, but at least it's keeping me out of trouble!

Some people just don't get the joke

Here's a Councilman from New York City being interviewed by a European comedienne. CNN is all over this thing, which goes to prove the MSM is following the Internet for its news.

I love the look on her face when the guy starts into his obscenity-laced tirade. That's a look of pure joy at the comedy gold she's being given!

Language Warning - numerous "f-bombs" dropped with reckless and hilarious abandon. Rated PG-13 (at the very least)

Love and kisses from Joe Lieberman

This time it's Milford Mayor Jim Richetelli who will be on the receiving end of Joe's affection.

Joe Lieberman will bring his message of cronyism and endless war to Milford on October 14th to pay back a political debt. Mayor Richetelli was an ardent supporter of Joe Lieberman during last year's senate campaign. So Joe has come to help out a "friend".

Actually, I think the issue goes much deeper than that. Lieberman seems to be bent on revenge for the many members of the Milford Democratic Town Committee who supported Ned Lamont AFTER he won the primary. Joe apparently felt betrayed by that, and now it's payback time and he's coming to campaign hard for the Republican incumbent.

The fact that a sitting US Senator feels it's necessary to insert himself into a municipal election is unusual. And that he decided Jim Richetelli is the best candidate without ever having spoken with Democratic candidate Kerri Rowland should be surprising to most thinking people.

But when that senator is Joe Lieberman, suddenly common sense gets thrown out the window.

You can help counter Joe's toxic influence on Milford's politics, and at the same time send a message to other candidates who think Joe Lieberman is the guy they want on their team by outraising him. Go to KerriRowland.com to donate to Kerri, and show Joe that he must GO!

Results from my informal Gore "poll"

A few days ago I posed a question and asked readers to respond in the comments with their views.

The question was basically this: if Al Gore decided to run in '08, and was in a field with only these three candidates, Clinton, Edwards, and Obama, who would you vote for?

There were seven votes for Gore, one for Edwards, none for Obama and Clinton, and some interesting comments.

Based on this highly unscientific poll, I think Al Gore should definitely commit to another run for the presidency.

Although, he DID pick Joe Lieberman as his running mate in 2000, which makes any decision of Gore's suspect by mere association. Other than that, and his reluctance to fight harder for the 2000 election, I think he'd be a very interesting last minute entry into the race.

And boy, would he piss off Hillary!

Watching the playoffs

OK, I know this doesn't have anything to do with politics, but I've been watching the baseball playoffs on TBS...

...now, I don't know who this Frank Caliendo guy is they're pushing during every SINGLE goddamned commercial break, but I DO know I already hate his guts out of sheer repetition, and I wouldn't watch his new show even if a gun was held to my head.

Enough with the stupid "Frank TV" already, we get it!

Sorry, I had to get that off my chest...oh my god, here's ANOTHER stupid commercial!

If Gore runs, wouldya vote 4 him?

The "Draft Gore" movement is alive and well in California.

I find this interesting.

If I was a more conscientious blogger, I'd put up one of those fancy polls where you can vote on a question. But I'm kind of tired right now and don't feel like bothering.

Of course, we'd all vote for Dodd if he's still in it come the CT primary in February. But just for the hell of it, let's do this: submit a comment stating who you would vote for from only among these frontrunners the MSM has selected for you:

Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
John Edwards
Al Gore

Whaddya think?

Jon Stewart crushes Tweety

How can you not freakin' love Jon Stewart?

He takes Chris Matthews, and exposes him, and his horrendously titled book "Life's A Campaign" for the drivel it most deservedly is. Stewart metaphorically smashes Matthews in his giant hydrocephalic head with his unsubtle hamfist-to-the-face approach to the book, and deftly trashes Tweety for everything his personal philosophy represents.

I kind of think that Stewart pulled his punches a little by the end of the interview, since Matthews was getting mauled so badly that even Jon started feeling sorry for him. Which is fine, because mercy is an attribute that certainly is in short supply these days, and there are bigger targets than an MSNBC hack who deserve a relentless smashing. Stewart effortlessly took Matthews apart, but managed to make nice by the end.

The video from last night's Daily Show is online at The Raw Story. Definitely worth a view.

City Clerk Alan Jepson

Yesterday I had the pleasure to shoot a candidate video of Milford's venerable City Clerk and former three-term Mayor Alan Jepson.

Mr. Jepson is a longtime fixture in our city's government and a bit of living Milford history. I remember back when I was five years old and Milford was celebrating it's 325th Anniversary (1964). My parents took me to the big downtown street party, where everyone was dressed in old-fashioned clothes and enjoying the event. We were greeted by Mayor Jepson there, and to me he was this impressive, stately, impossibly tall gentleman, who seemed to me to be exactly what the President should look like.

Alan Jepson has served as City Clerk for twenty years, and he's running unopposed this year. While there are significant differences between our local Democratic and Republican parties, we all agree that having a dedicated and honorable public servant like Mr. Jepson is a great benefit to us all.

Some things you can't argue about

(But just in case you can, the comments are turned off for this post, too)

Comments are turned off

Because some people or person can't deal with adults having a free exchange of ideas and opinions, and they or he have been running wild in the comments section, I've decided to turn the comments off for the time being.

I freely admit I made an error of judgment by posting anything about this situation, and I apologize to anyone who may have found it unpleasant.

The video is also being taken down to prevent further controversy. I have to go to work now, and I don't have the luxury of babysitting this blog.

Thanks for making my job so fucking easy.